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Today I had not just one, but two post-sweat shaves. Why did I need a second shave, you ask? Well, because...

The first sweaty shave was less than spectacular!

That's right -- I went to the Y like usual, worked up a sweat like usual, took a hot shower in the locker room as usual, walked over to the locker room sinks as usual, and shaved as usual. But what wasn't usual, at least in the context of a YMCA shave, was the result. It just wasn't a great shave.

I did everything I've been doing when I shave at the Y, and I even tried not wiping the sweat off my face while I exercised, so my beard could baste in the sweat to max effect. Still, the shave did not make the Earth move for me. It was okay, but nothing special.

So I drove home and decided on a whim to paint the exterior door to our tool shed, which had been looking pretty weather-beaten for some time. It was hellishly hot today, and between the weather and the painting, I worked up an even bigger sweat than when I'd exercised earlier in the morning. So when I was finished painting the door, the thought occurred to me -- I'm all sweaty, I didn't like the shave I got earlier, sooo, what are we waiting for? Let's shave!

After a good scrubbing with WD-40 to remove the Rustoleum from my hands, I took another hot shower and did my second shave of the day. Only this time, I did it the way I've been doing it at home for awhile now. I filled the sink with water, turned the faucet off, and shaved in blessed silence save for the pinging sound of the razor cutting whiskers.

I don't know if the first shave set the stage or what, but I'm telling you, the second shave was phenomenal. Just a quick with-grain pass and then a quick against-grain pass, and my face looked and felt like it did when I got that unbelievable straight razor shave at Truefitt & Hill's a few months ago. My cheeks felt soft and hairless, and I could rub my hand under on chin without feeling stubble in any direction.

The tools were the same -- Merkur HD razor, Merkur Platinum double-edge blade, Vulfix badger brush, Taylor's rose shaving cream -- I've been using for months at home. But I'm starting to accept that sweating your ass off before you shave makes all the difference between a merely good shave and an extraordinary one.

Several wetshaving experts have emailed me with the suggestion that I try slathering hair conditioner on my face while I'm in the shower if I can't or don't want to work up a serious sweat beforehand, because hair conditioner softens hair too and that might give me the same kind of shaves as when I work out. I've tried shaving with Nioxin conditioner as a shaving cream -- the professional barber in my Today Show shaving segment uses Nioxin for all of his straight razor shaves and swears by it -- but never as a pre-shave prep. So tomorrow I'll give it a go and see if it can deliver the same kind of shave as does working up a serious sweat.